CURRENT ISSUE PREVIEW
OCTOBER 2022
Our October line-up includes interviews with Rob Schneider, Estela Juarez, Tacko Fall, Lotus Kay, Conrad Storad, Frank Wood, Cindy Derby, and Jackie Azua Kramer!
Judy Newman has bats in the barn, Once Upon a Dance discusses collaborations, Joy Pillay talks about the power and practice of adaptation, and Nick Spake reviews Hocus Pocus 2.
Check out our newest book reviews and fall reading list! It's all inside!
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Story Monsters Ink® is sponsored by Once Upon a Dance and Dr. Joy Pillay
FEATURES
Rob Schneider
New Film is a Spring Break for the Books
by Alana Pedalino
Making a movie often involves the backdrop of Hollywood,
while promoting a movie often involves glittering outfits, tuxedos, and red carpets.
For veteran comedian and actor Rob Schneider, not so much.
On Wednesday, September 21, in Phoenix, Arizona, Schneider created buzz for his new movie, Daddy Daughter Trip, in an unlikely way. Donning a baseball cap and T-shirt, the actor paid a special visit to Raising Cane’s, a fast-food restaurant known for its chicken fingers. He served up orders at the drive-thru window as well as free tickets to the Scottsdale, Arizona, premiere of his film. The only thing remotely close to Hollywood glamor was Schneider’s Raising Cane’s T-shirt, which shared the same shade of red as the aforementioned carpet, and perhaps his autographing of posters to give to adoring fans.
Estela Juarez
Made Someone Listen After Her Mom Was Deported
by Lindsey Giardino
Estela Juarez was just 11 years old when her words first made a resounding noise across the nation.
When Juarez was eight, her mother, Alejandra, was deported to Mexico. Juarez was confused. She was angry. And she wanted her mom back. So, she began writing letters to her local newspaper, to Congress, and to the president. She even read the letter she wrote to then-President Donald Trump following her mom’s deportation during the 2020 Democratic National Convention.
“The experience was incredible, to be honest,” Juarez says of being part of the convention. “I had no idea how huge and important this event was.” Juarez’s story is just one of many, but it made a huge impact. In 2021, her mother received temporary permission to return to her family on humanitarian parole and a one-year extension this past May.This past September, Juarez’s first book, Until Someone Listens: A Story About Borders, Family and One Girl’s Mission, and its Spanish language edition were published. There’s also an audio version Juarez recorded as well. The autobiographical children’s book, illustrated by Teresa Martinez, encourages kids of all ages to speak up for what they believe in.
Tacko Fall
Inspires Readers On and Off the Court
by Lindsey Giardino
Tacko Fall is hard to miss. At a height of 7 feet, 6 inches, he’s one of the tallest living humans. But once you dive into his story and background, you find that Fall stands out in more ways than just physical appearance.
With the recent publication of his children’s book, Tacko Fall: To New Heights, which Fall penned with his sports agent, Justin Haynes, young readers and adults alike can learn more about his journey to where he is today—as a rising basketball star.
Fall was born and raised in Dakar, Senegal, where he enjoyed going to school with friends and playing soccer in the streets. In 2011, Ibrahima N’Diaye, who started a basketball academy for youth in Senegal, heard from one of the academy’s coaches about an exceptionally tall teenager he’d seen playing outside. That boy was Fall.
Lotus Kay
Shows Young Readers That Friends Really Can Lift You Up
by Michele Appelgate
At the age of 21, Lotus Kay is establishing herself as a successful writer, singer, and songwriter. Each of those talents could lead to separate careers, but Kay is giving voice to each.
“I tend to work on whatever I am feeling inspired to work on that day, unless I have a deadline I need to meet,” she said. “I am always writing something, whether it is on a song, a book, or ideas for an article or video or just adding quotes or ideas in my notes. Writing is my natural way of processing my experiences, so it is like breathing to me. It’s something I can’t not do!
Conrad J. Storad
Encourages Kids to Explore Their World
by Raven Howell
Conrad J. Storad’s book, Story Monsters Among Us (A Brief History of Human Storytelling) explores the mysteries and origins of storytelling. Igniting imaginations, young readers will be enthralled following the long and winding road of storytelling’s origin and mystery. Some younger generations may be completely taken, finding that thousands of years ago, there were no books at all, no TV, computers, or internet. Humans learned to share stories through pictures until language became more sophisticated.
Tackling the task of exploring and explaining the vast and deep subject of storytelling to young students in a picture book length and format seems daunting, but in good humor, Conrad responds, “I’ve done the work for you. All you need to do is sit back, read, and enjoy. It was a ‘small’ project covering almost 50,000 years of human history. And it only took me about six years to complete and get into print. Of course, we only had room to include about a small percentage of what I actually wrote and could have written.”
One to Read
Frank Wood
by Marcella Comerford
Frank Wood, author of the popular young adult series The Longest Halloween, Jack and the Giant Killers and the Bodacious Beanstalk Adventure series, has two new books recently released to his large fanbase.
He adds these to his already well-known works of literature to eager readers: Bobby Brumley and the Power of Beowulf: Book One: Birth of a Hero, and Jack, the Giant Killers and the Bodacious Beanstalk Adventure: Book Two: Flight to the Northern Kingdom were both launched several months ago.
Wood’s work has previously won the Mom’s Choice Award for Young Adult Literature and Purple Dragonfly Book Awards for Middle School Fiction.
COLUMNS
-
Life of a Reader
October
by Judy Newman -
Q&A
Cindy Derby
by Julianne Black DiBlasi -
The Book Bug
Jackie Azua Kramer
by Raven Howell -
Monsters at the Movies
Hocus Pocus 2
by Nick Spake -
Dancing on the Page
Awesome Collaborations
by Once Upon a Dance -
Dr. Joy Pillay
The Power and Practice of Adaptation!
DrJoyPillay.com -
Liv On Life
The Power of Words
by Olivia Amiri -
KIDS CORNER
Picture Sudoku!
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